Milford Marijuana Grower Poised To Get First Recreational Cannabis License

State marijuana regulators are poised Thursday to grant the state's first legal recreational marijuana business license to a cultivation facility in Milford.

An agenda for Thursday's Cannabis Control Commission meeting includes a vote on granting a license to grow between 10,001 and 20,000 square feet worth of marijuana to Sira Naturals, a company that already grows medical marijuana in Milford.

If the five-person commission decides to grant Sira Naturals a license, it would be the first legal recreational marijuana license granted since voters approved legalization in 2016.

The CCC is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Health Policy Commission's offices, per the meeting agenda.

Including Sira Naturals, 28 entities have applied for 53 business licenses from the CCC. The agency is reviewing those applications and officials have said they will come to the commission for a vote whenever the review is complete.

The review process includes a background check and a 60-day window during which the municipality in which the business hopes to locate must certify that the applicant has met all local requirements.

Executive Director Shawn Collins said last week that the pending pile includes 18 applications to cultivate marijuana, 17 applications for retail licenses, 12 applications to produce marijuana-infused products, three research laboratory applications, two applications from microbusinesses, and one application to transport marijuana.

Legal retail marijuana sales are expected to begin in about two weeks, though CCC Chairman Steven Hoffman and others at the agency have recently suggested the July 1 target date might not be met.